Printing apparatus, printing method, and program

ABSTRACT

In a case ( 101 ) with the shorter side at the top, a tray ( 121 ) is placed substantially vertically, an optical disk ( 170 ) is substantially vertically supported on the tray ( 121 ), and a printer section ( 135 ) is provided to be opposite to the tray ( 121 ). In the printer section ( 135 ), a carriage ( 141 ) equipped with a thermal head ( 142 ) is structured to be movable vertically along the tray ( 121 ). When the carriage ( 141 ) moved vertically downward, the thermal head ( 142 ) is driven to provide thermal transfer printing of a title and the like, which indicate the contents of data recorded on the optical disk ( 170 ), to the surface thereof through an ink ribbon ( 162 ).

This application is a U.S. National Phase Application under 35 USC 371of International Application PCT/JP03/05445 filed Apr. 28, 2003.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, printing method,and a program for printing information such as a title and the like ofdata recorded on a recording medium on the surface of the recordingmedium such as an optical disk and the like as a printing object.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventionally, the applicant of this invention has proposed printingapparatuses that print a title of an optical disk such as CD-R (CompactDisk-Recordable) on its surface, and put them on the market in Japan.

This type of printing apparatus includes a tray that supports a disk anda printer mechanism that performs printing to the disk supported by thetray. The tray is moved to an external section of an apparatus main bodyby an eject operation. The printer mechanism performs thermal transferprinting to an optical disk, which is supported on the tray provided ata predetermined position in the apparatus main body and which is in astationary state, using an ink ribbon by a thermal head that moves backand forth.

The aforementioned printing apparatus includes a flat box-shapeapparatus main body. In the apparatus main body, there is provided theprinter mechanism in which the tray, which supports the optical diskhorizontally, is placed horizontally, and a carriage equipped with athermal head is moved back and forth along on the tray.

In the conventional printing apparatus, since the tray is horizontallyplaced in the apparatus main body to support the optical diskhorizontally, the apparatus main body becomes a flat box shape whosebottom area is larger than the height. For this reason, when thisapparatus is used as peripheral equipment of the computer system, thereis a problem that the space for installment becomes large.

Moreover, in the aforementioned printer mechanism, printing is performedto the surface of the optical disk in one rectangular range, whichcorresponds to an effective print width that the thermal head has and adistance where the thermal head moves and scans, by one print operation.

Accordingly, in a case where a user desires to provide printing to aplurality of portions of the surface (label surface) of the optical diskby the printer mechanism, the use must carry out the followingoperations. Namely, the user once pushes the tray out of the printingapparatus by the eject operation after printing one portion. Then, inorder that an area, which is opposite to a print area at the first printaround a hole of the disk, is made correspond to the position of theprinter mechanism, the user rotates the optical disk on the tray at 180°manually to be reset and turns the tray to the apparatus main body.Then, printing is performed to the different portion by a second printoperation of the printer mechanism.

In other words, according to this type of printing apparatus, every timewhen one print processing ends, the tray must be ejected to the externalsection of the printing apparatus that can attach/detach the opticaldisk thereto/therefrom. Moreover, such a complicated task is needed thatthe positioning is performed on the tray to change the placement ofoptical disk manually and the tray is turned to the apparatus main bodyto restart the printing operation. For this reason, efficiency ofprinting work will be reduced.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatuswith a small installment space and a printing method.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a printingapparatus whose consumption power at a print operating time is small anda printing method.

Further another object of the present invention is to provide a printingapparatus and a printing method capable of efficiently performingprinting to a plurality of portions on the surface of a printing objectwith a simple apparatus configuration.

In order to attain the above object, a printing apparatus according to afirst aspect of the present invention comprising support means forsupporting a data recordable recording medium substantially vertically;and print means for printing predetermined data to the recording mediumsupported by the support means.

According to this configuration, since the recording medium is supportedsubstantially vertically in the printing apparatus, it is possible tocontain the support means and the print means in the box-shaped casewith the small bottom area and the shorter side at the top, so that theinstallment area for the apparatus can be reduced.

In the above configuration, the print means may include a print head tomove the print head substantially vertically along the recording mediumsupported by the support means, and to drive the print head to performprinting to a predetermined area of the recording medium.

In the above configuration, when the print means moves the print headsubstantially vertically from the upper to the lower, the print head maybe driven.

According to this configuration, it is possible to use the weight of theprint means (carriage) at the print operating time, and a load on themotor for driving the print means to be moved can be reduced.Accordingly, the motor can be miniaturized and the power consumption canbe reduced.

Moreover, when the print means moves the print head substantiallyvertically from the lower to the upper, the print head may be driven.

In the above configuration, the print means may include a print head tomove the print head substantially horizontally along the recordingmedium supported by the support means, and to drive the print head toperform printing to a predetermined area of the recording medium.

Moreover, the print mean may further include a carriage that is equippedwith the print head and that moves along the recording medium supportedby the support means, and the print head may move in accordance withmovement of the carriage, and provide thermal transfer printing of animage based on predetermined print data to a surface of the recordingmedium through an ink ribbon.

In the above configuration, the support means may further includerotation drive means, having a rotatable base for rotating the recordingmedium, for driving the rotatable base to be rotated; print means forperforming printing to the recording medium supported by the supportmeans; and control means for controlling the operations of the rotationdrive means and the print means. The control means may selectivelyoperate the rotation drive means and the print means.

According to this configuration, the apparatus can be configured simplyand at low cost. Further, it is possible to provide a printing apparatuscapable of efficiently performing printing to a plurality of portions onthe surface of a printing object with a simple operation in a state thatthe printing object is mounted on the rotatable base. Moreover, sincethe rotation drive means and the print means are selectively operated,the driving power supply source of the printing apparatus can bemanufactured at low cost by configuring it in a small scale.

In the above configuration, the control means may include a print headthat moves as pressing against the recording medium supported by thesupport means through an ink ribbon to perform thermal transferprinting. The support means is movable to a position where the recordingmedium is attached/detached to/from the rotatable base and a positionwhere printing is performed to the recording medium, which is supportedby the rotatable base, by the print means. The rotatable base mayinclude a cushion member, which abuts against the recording medium, andengaging means, which engages with the recording medium, on a surfacewhere the recording medium is mounted.

According to this configuration, since the cushion member is provided onthe surface of the rotatable base where the printing object is mounted,when the print head presses against the printing object, the cushionmember equally elastically deforms, so that the print head comes incontact with the surface of the printing object equally. Accordingly,satisfactory printing can be performed. Furthermore, since the rotatablebase includes engaging means for engaging the printing object, it ispossible to prevent the printing object from being detached even if theprinting object is engaged with the rotatable base without fail and, forexample, the printing apparatus is used in a vertical position.

In the above configuration, the cushion member may be provided at aposition on the rotatable base subjected to pressure by the print headat the time of printing to the recording medium in a range correspondingto a width of the print head and a length where the print head pressesagainst the recording medium and moves.

According to this configuration, the cushion member is provided at theposition on the rotatable base subjected to pressure by the print headat the time of printing to the recording medium in the rangecorresponding to the width of the print head and the length where theprint head presses against the recording medium and moves. Accordingly,when the print head presses against the printing object, the cushionmember equally elastically deforms, so that the print head comes incontact with the surface of the printing object equally, so thatsatisfactory printing can be performed.

The print means may include a print head that moves as pressing againstthe recording medium supported by the support means through an inkribbon to perform thermal transfer printing. The support means mayinclude a support base, which supports the rotatable base to berotatable around a rotation shaft and to be rotatable in an axialdirection of the rotation shaft, and urging means for urging therotatable base to the support base. One of opposing surfaces of thesupport base and the rotatable base may include convex portions, whichproject from the one opposing surface and which slide in contact withthe other opposing surface opposing to the one opposing surface duringthe rotating operation of the rotatable base by the rotation drivemeans, around the rotation shaft. The other opposing surface may includeconcave portions, into which the convex portions are fit at the printoperating time by the print means, around the rotation shaft.

According to this configuration, when the rotational base rotates at anon-print operating time, the rotatable base contacts the convexportions and rotates smoothly, and the convex portions fit into theconcave portions by urging means at the printing time, thereby therotatable base is stably supported at the position with a predeterminedrotation angle.

At least one of opposing surfaces of the support base and the rotatablebase may include a member having a thickness smaller than a projectionheight of the convex portion, a cushion property, and a frictionproperty.

According to this configuration, when the convex portions fit into theconcave portions, the rotatable base is adhered to the support basethrough the member having the cushion property and the frictionproperty, and the rotatable base is thereby stably supported at theposition with the predetermined rotation angle.

The print means may include a print head that moves as pressing againstthe recording medium supported by the support means through an inkribbon to perform thermal transfer printing. The support means supportsthe rotatable base rotatably, and is movable to a position where therecording medium is attached/detached to/from the rotatable base and aposition where printing is performed to the recording medium, which issupported by the rotatable base, by the print means. Either one ofopposing surfaces of the support base and the rotatable base opposing toeach other may include convex portions, which project from the oneopposing surface and which abut against other opposing surface opposingto the one opposing surface, at a portion subjected to pressure by theprint head.

According to this configuration, since either one of opposing surfacesof the support base and the rotatable base opposing to each other mayinclude convex portions, which project from the one opposing surface andwhich abut against other opposing surface opposing to the one opposingsurface, at a portion subjected to pressure by the print head, therotatable base can receive the pressure of the print head stably andequally.

A rotating direction of the rotatable base driven to be rotated by therotation drive means and a moving direction of the print head may beopposite to each other in the direction at a print portion.

According to this configuration, since the rotating direction of therotatable base driven to be rotated by the rotation drive means and themoving direction of the print head may be opposite to each other in thedirection at a print portion, no backlash occurs in the rotation drivemeans for driving the rotatable base to be rotated. Accordingly, therotational base is prevented from being slightly rotated at the printoperating time, so that satisfactory printing can be performed.

The rotation drive means may include a drive motor and a gear trainhaving a worm gear that transmits power of the drive motor to therotatable base.

According to this configuration, the rotation drive means includes thedrive motor and the gear train having the worm gear that transmits powerof the drive motor to the rotatable base, and this eliminates theaccidental rotation of the rotatable base at the print head moving time.Accordingly, the rotatable base is maintained in a fixed state withoutfail, so that satisfactory printing can be performed.

In the above configuration, the printing apparatus may further comprisedetecting means for detecting kinds of predetermined print objectssupported by the support means. The support means may support a firstprint object and a second print object selectively. The control meansmay selectively operate the rotation drive means and the print meanswhen the detecting means detects the first print object, and may stopoperating the rotation drive means and operate only the print means whenthe detecting means detects the second print object.

In the above configuration, the first print object may be a disk-likedata-recordable recording medium having a predetermined diameter, andthe second print object may be a rectangular paper material whose oneside has substantially a same length as the predetermined diameter.

In order to attain the above object, a printing method according to asecond aspect of the present invention comprises the steps of supportinga data recordable recording medium substantially vertically in aprinting apparatus; and printing predetermined data to the recordingmedium supported in the supporting step.

In the above method, the printing step may include the steps of moving aprint head substantially vertically along the recording medium supportedin the supporting step; and driving the print head moved in the movingstep to perform printing to a predetermined area of a surface of therecording medium.

In the above method, the printing step may include the steps of moving aprint head substantially horizontally along the recording mediumsupported in the supporting step; and driving the print head moved inthe moving step to perform printing to a predetermined area of a surfaceof the recording medium.

In the above method, in the printing step, a carriage that is equippedwith the print head may be moved along the recording medium to move theprint head to a predetermined position, and thermal transfer printing ofan image based on print data may be provided to a surface of therecording medium through an ink ribbon.

In the above method, the method may further comprise the step ofrotating the recording medium up to a predetermined angle in the printapparatus. The rotating step and the printing step may be selectivelyexecuted to perform printing to a plurality of portions on the surfaceof the recording medium.

In order to attain the above object, a program according to a thirdaspect of the present invention controls a computer to execute: a stepof storing predetermined print data; a step of supporting a datarecordable recording medium substantially vertically in a printingapparatus; a step of moving a print head along the recording mediumsupported substantially vertically, in a substantially verticaldirection or in a substantially horizontal direction; and a step ofprinting the print data to a predetermined area on a surface of therecording medium by driving the print head moved in the moving step.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention will be explained as follows withreference to the following drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state that a printing apparatusaccording to a first embodiment of the present invention is used;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing an internal mechanism ofthe printing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plane structural view at the time of ejecting a support trayof the printing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plane structural view at the time of inserting a supporttray of the printing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a plane structural view showing the principal part of a movingmechanism for a support tray in the printing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are cross-sectional views each showing a support trayand a rotatable base in the printing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a structural view showing a tray moving position detectionswitch in the printing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 8A and 8B are structural views each showing a kind detectionswitch that detects a kind of a printing object in the printingapparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing an optical disk as a printingobject and a paper material;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the structure of an electroniccircuit of the printing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 11A and 11B are explanatory views each showing a relationship inthe position between a thermal head for printing and a cushion sheet onthe rotational sheet in the printing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 12 is a plane structural view at the time of ejecting the supporttray when printing is performed to the paper material;

FIG. 13 is a plane structural view at the time of inserting the supporttray when printing is performed to the paper material;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing print processing of the printingapparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view showing a modification of the supporttray and rotatable plate in the printing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 16A and 16B are views each showing the structure of a printermechanism of the printing apparatus according to the first embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing print processing of a printing apparatusaccording to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a perspective view showing the entirety of a printingapparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 19 is a side view showing the structure of the main parts of theprinting apparatus of FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is a front view showing the structure of the main parts of theprinting apparatus of FIG. 18;

FIGS. 21A and 21B are views each showing the structure of a printersection of the printing apparatus according to the third embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 22 is a view explaining force acting on the carriage of theprinting apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 23 is a side view showing the structure of the main parts of aprinting apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 24 is a side view showing the structure of the main parts of aprinting apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the presentinvention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(First Embodiment)

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the entirety of a printing apparatusaccording to a first embodiment; FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective viewof the main parts of the printing apparatus, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are viewseach showing a plane structural view of the main parts.

Additionally, the printing apparatus according to this embodiment can beused both horizontally and vertically. FIGS. 3 and 4 are plane viewswhen the printing apparatus is placed horizontally. When the printingapparatus is placed vertically as shown in FIG. 1, a right side surfaceor a left side surface of a case 1 corresponds to a bottom surface inFIGS. 3 and 4.

The printing apparatus of this embodiment includes a tray mechanism thatsupports an optical disk and a printer mechanism that performs printing(label printing) to a surface (label surface) of the optical disksupported by the tray mechanism. This printing apparatus furtherincludes an eject function of ejecting the tray mechanism to theexternal section of the apparatus main body, a rotation function ofrotating the optical disk supported by the tray mechanism, and a thermaltransfer print function of performing printing to the label surface ofthe optical disk using an ink ribbon.

An explanation will be first given of the structure of the main body ofthe printing apparatus and the structure of the tray mechanism.

This printing apparatus includes a rectangular box-shape case 1 and anopening 1 a is formed on a front surface of this case 1. Then, an ejectswitch 2 is formed at a front surface of the case 1, and a base 3 shownin FIG. 2 is fixed to an interior of the case 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, a pair of guide rails 4, which extend in parallel tobe spaced to each other, is formed on an upper surface of the base 3,and a support tray 5 as a support base is slidably attached betweenthese guide rails 4. The support tray 5 passes through the opening 1 a,and slidably moves between the internal section of the case 1 and theexternal section thereof. Additionally, this support tray 5 is supportedto have a fixed space between the base 3 and the support tray 5.

At one side portion of an upper surface of the base 3, there areprovided a drive motor (DC motor) 6 for a tray and a gear train 7composed of a plurality of first to fourth gears 7 a to 7 d driven bythe drive motor 6. A pulley 7 e is provided coaxially with the firstgear 7 a of the gear train 7, and the pulley 7 e is coupled to a pulley6 a provided at an output shaft of the drive motor 6 through a belt 8.Moreover, the second gear 7 b and the gear 7 c mesh with the first gear7 a and the third gear 7 c, sequentially, so that rotational power ofthe drive motor 6 is transmitted to the third gear 7 c.

The third gear 7 c and fourth gear 7 d are coupled to each other througha lug mechanism (intermittent gear mechanism). When the third gear 7 crotates by an angle of, for example, 135° in a forward direction,rotational power of the third gear 7 c is transmitted to the fourth gear7 d. Moreover, when the third gear 7 c reversely rotates by an angle of135° from this state, rotational power of the third gear 7 c istransmitted to the fourth gear 7 d.

A rack 11 is provided in the internal portion of the lower surface sideof the support tray 5. Here, the lower surface side is the back surfaceside of the support tray 5, i.e., the surface side opposite to the frontsurface to which the optical disk is mounted. The fourth gear 7 d mesheswith the rack 11. By this mesh, the support tray 5 moves in the back andforth directions of the case 1 in accordance with the forward-reversalrotation of the fourth gear 7 d to be displayed to an eject position(FIG. 3), which projects into the external section of the case 1, and aprint position (FIG. 4), which is placed in the internal portion of thecase 1.

In the case 1, there is provided a tray position detection switch 13 tobe opposed to one side portion of the support tray 5. The detectionswitch 13 has a lever 13 a. The lever 13 a is engaged with a concavegroove 14 formed on the side surface of the support tray 5 along itslongitudinal direction. In accordance with the operation of the supporttray 5 in the back and forth directions, the lever 13 a is displaced toa neutral position N, an open position O, and a close position C asshown in FIG. 7.

Moreover, in the case 1, there is provided an actuation gear 17corresponding to the fourth gear 7 d. The actuation gear 17 has a fanshape and rotates with a support shaft 18 as a fulcrum. A first halfsection of its periphery is a teeth portion 17 a in which teeth arearranged and a second half section thereof is a tooth omitting portion17 b in which teeth are omitted.

A small gear 9 is provided to the third gear 7 c of the gear train 7 ina body, and the teeth portion 17 a meshes with the small gear 9 inaccordance with the rotation of the actuation gear 17.

A pin 19 is attached to a plate surface of the actuation gear 17 to beadjacent to the tooth omitting portion 17 b. On a lower surface of thesupport tray 5, there is formed a guide groove 20 that extends along theback and forth direction of the tray 5. The pin 19 is slidably fit intothe guide groove 20. In accordance with the movement of the support tray5 in the back and forth directions thereof, the pin 19 relatively movesalong the guide groove 20.

At an end portion of the top end side of the guide groove 20, there isformed a circular path 21 having an outward path 21 a and a backwardpath 21 b. In accordance with the backward movement of support tray 5,the pin 19 enters the backward path 21 b from the guide groove 20.

At an inner portion of the back side of the case 1, there is provided ahook lever 24 that rotates with a support shaft 23 as a fulcrum. Thehook lever 24 has a hook portion 25. Moreover, an actuation rod 26 isprovided between the end portion of the top end side of the hook lever24 and one side surface of the actuation gear 17.

The actuation rod 26 is supported to be slidable along the back andforth directions of the case 1 through a plurality of guide pieces 27provided to the base 3, and the end portion of one side surface of theactuation rod 26 abuts against one side surface of the actuation gear17. Moreover, the hook lever 24 is elastically urged clockwise in thefigure by a spring 28, and the hook lever 24 elastically abuts againstthe end portion of the other end side of the actuation rod 26 by thisurging force. At a lower surface of the back side of the support tray 5,there is provided a hook receiver 29 which is engageable with the hookportion 25, to correspond to the hook portion 25.

On the upper surface of the support tray 5, a disk-like concave portion31 is formed. The upper surface is the surface to which the optical diskis mounted. In the concave portion 31, a rotatable base 32 is formed,and the rotatable base 32 and support tray 5 forms support means forsupporting a printing object.

The rotatable base 32 has a rotating shaft 33 in a body at the centralportion of the lower surface as shown in FIG. 6. The rotating shaft 33is rotatably inserted into a fitting hole 34 formed on the support tray5. A gear 35 is attached to an end portion outer periphery on theinserting side to be unrotatable and slidable in an axial direction.

Moreover, a belleville-spring 36 is attached to the end portion of therotating shaft 33 at the lower surface side of the gear 35. Theperiphery portion of the belleville-spring 36 elastically abuts againstthe lower surface of the gear 35. Moreover, the rotatable base 32 iselastically urged to the downward support tray 5 by thebelleville-spring 36.

On the lower surface of the rotatable base 32, a plurality of convexportions 38 is formed to be projected with equal intervals on acircumference around the rotating shaft 33. On the support tray 5, thereis a plurality of transparent hole-like concave portions 39corresponding to the respective convex portions 38. Namely, when theconvex portions 38 and the concave portions 39 face each other,respectively, the convex portions 38 fall in the concave portions 39 tobe engaged with each other, respectively.

A friction sheet 40, which is made of high cushioning and frictionmaterial such as rubber and has a low thickness, that is, lower than theprojection height of the convex 38, is adhered to the lower surface ofthe rotatable base 31, which is the portion of the outside area of theconvex portion 38. At the central portion of the upper surface of therotatable base 32, there is formed a plurality of elastically deformableprojection pieces 41 to be equally positioned on the same circumferenceto be projected. The projection pieces 41 are used as engaging means forengaging a printing object and are arc-shaped seeing from the plane.

At the lower surface of the rotatable base 32, there are provided a gear44 and a drive motor 45 for a rotatable base. The gear 44 has a largegear 44 a and a small gear 44 b in a body. A worm gear 46 is attached toa rotating shaft 45 a of the drive motor 45 (DC motor). The worm gear 46meshes with the large gear 44 a of the gear 44. Moreover, the small gear44 b of the gear 44 meshes with the gear 35, and the rotational power ofthe drive motor 45 is transmitted to the rotatable base 32 through theworm gear 46, gear 44, and gear 35. Moreover, a disk 47 provided with aplurality of slits formed around its circumference is attached to therotating shaft 45 a. An encoder 48 having a light emitting element and alight receiving element which are arranged so as to sandwich this disk47 is provided.

A rotation position detection switch 50 is provided at the outside of apart of the inner periphery of the concave portion 31 formed on theupper surface of the support tray 5. The rotation position detectionswitch 50 has an actuator 50 a that elastically projects. The actuator50 a elastically abuts against the outer peripheral surface of therotatable base 32. On the outer peripheral surface of the rotatable base32, four concave portions 51 are formed at 90 degrees intervals. Theconcave 51 faces the actuator 50 a according to the rotation of therotatable base 32. The actuator 50 a falls in the concave portion 51 atthe facing position, so that the rotation position of the rotatable base32 is detected.

A cushion sheet 61, which is formed of elastic material with excellentcushion and adherence, is adhered to the upper surface of the rotatablebase 32 to serve as a placing surface for an optical disk 100 a tocorrespond to the print position of the printer mechanism that issubjected to pressure from a thermal head 58 at a printing time. In thisprinting apparatus, after the end of one print operation by the printermechanism, the rotation base rotates clockwise every 90° or 180° andstops, and printing is performed to the optical disk 100 a at eachstopped position. For this reason, the cushion sheet 61 is formed to besquare-frame shaped in such a manner to surround the center of therotatable base 32 in order to correspond to four print areas to be seton the optical disk 100 a at the maximum. Then, when the rotatable base32 rotates clockwise every 90° or 180° and stops, the respective sides,which form the square frame of the cushion sheet 61, are made tocorrespond to the print operation range (printable area) of the thermalhead 58 of the printer mechanism. When the cushion sheet 61 is placed atthe position corresponding to the print operation range of the thermalhead 58 of the printer mechanism, the convex portion 38 formed on thelower surface of the rotatable base 32 is fit into the concave portion39 formed on the support tray 35.

An explanation will be next given of the structure of the printermechanism provided with the printing apparatus.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, a gate-like frame 54 is attached onto the base3 to be stretched over the support tray 5. A guide shaft 55 isconstructed in the inner side of the frame 54, and a carriage 56 ismovably attached to the guide shaft 55. At the front surface of thecarriage 56, a head cover 57 is formed to be projected. At the lowersurface of the head cover 57, a thermal head 58 as a print head isprovided. A ribbon cartridge 56, which contains an ink ribbon, isprovided to be attachable/detachable to/from the front surface of thecarriage 56. In the carriage 56, a running drive mechanism for thecarriage 56, a head moving mechanism for the thermal head 58 and an inkribbon winding mechanism and the like are provided. Moreover, aforward-reverse rotational drive motor for the carriage (stepping motor)60 as a drive source for each mechanism is attached to the back surfaceof the carriage 60.

An explanation will be further given of the structure of the printermechanism based on FIG. 16.

A ribbon cartridge 59, which contains an ink ribbon 80 as a consumablematerial, is provided to be attachable/detachable to/from the cartridgeattaching surface of the front surface of the cartridge 56. The ribboncartridge 59 includes a case 81. On the case 81, there is formed aconcave portion 82 into which the head cover 57 is fit.

In the case 81, a ribbon supply core 83 and a ribbon winding core 84 areprovided and the ink ribbon 80 is wound around the ribbon supply core 83in the form of roll. The ink ribbon 80 paid out from the ribbon supplycore 83 is hooked on the winding core 84 through a plurality of guidepins 85. The ink ribbon 80 is sequentially wound around the winding core84 in accordance with the forward rotation of the winding core 84. Themiddle of the ink ribbon 80 is exposed to the external section of thecase 81 and runs along the lower surface side of the concave portion 82where the thermal head 58 is positioned.

In the carriage 56, there is provided an output gear 86 attached to anoutput shaft of the drive motor 60 for a carriage, and a first gear 87 ameshes with the output gear 86. Moreover, a second gear 87 b is providedcoaxially with the first gear 87 b. A third gear 87 c meshes with thesecond gear 87 b, and a fourth gear 87 d meshes with the third gear 87c.

Then, a ribbon winding shaft 88 is provided coaxially with a rotatingshaft of the fourth gear 87 d through a one-way clutch (not shown). Theribbon winding shaft 88 projects forward from the cartridge attachingsurface of the carriage 56 to engage with the winding core 84 accordingto the attachment of ribbon cartridge 59 to the cartridge attachingsurface.

The third gear 87 c meshes with the rack (not shown) provided to theframe 54 along a running path of the carriage 56 in parallel with theguide shaft 55. By this mesh, the carriage 56 reciprocates along theguide shaft 55 in accordance with the forward-reversal rotation of thethird gear 87 c.

Moreover, a cam gear 89 is provided in the carriage 56. The cam gear 89is provided with a gear at its circumference, and an arc-shape camgroove 90, which is off-centered against the center of the rotation isformed in the side surface of the gear. Then, a swing clutch 91 isformed between the cam gear 89 and the output gear 86. The swing clutch91 is composed of a sun gear 92, which meshes with the output gear 86,and a pair of planet gears 94 a and 94 b, which mesh with the sun gear92 and which are supported to be movable in the circumferentialdirection of the sun gear 92 through an arm 93. At the forward rotatingtime of the sun gear 92 (at the rotation time clockwise), one planetgear 94 a meshes with the cam gear 89 and the other planet gear 94 bseparates from the cam gear 89. Meanwhile, at the reverse rotating timeof the sun gear 92 (at the rotation time anticlockwise), one planet gear94 a separates from the cam gear 89 and the other planet gear 94 bmeshes with the cam gear 89.

In the carriage 56, there is provided a head arm 96 that rotates up anddown around the center of a shaft 95. The head arm 96 is elasticallyurged anticlockwise in FIG. 16 by a spring 97 provided at the endportion of the one end side in a tensioned state. Further, the head arm96 is provided with a pin 98 close to the one end portion. The pin 98 isslidably inserted to the cam groove 90 of the cam gear 89. A head holder99 is attached to the end portion of the other end side of the head arm96. The head holder 99 is placed in the head cover 57, which projects tothe front side of the carriage 56, and extends to the front side of thecarriage 56 along the head cover 57. Moreover, a head base 101 issupported at the lower surface of the head holder 99 through a shaft100. The thermal head 58 as the print head is attached to the lowersurface of the head base 101. The thermal head 58 is placed to beopposed to the opening of the lower surface of the head cover 57.

The thermal head 58 is pressed via the ink ribbon paid out from theribbon cartridge 59, onto the label surface which is opposite to thesignal recording surface of the optical disk 100 a which is heldstandstill on the stopped rotatable base 32. In this state, the thermalhead 58 moves from left to right in FIG. 2 along the guide shaft 56together with the carriage 59. During this movement, printing isperformed by the thermal transfer method in which a predetermined imageis thermally transferred to the surface of the optical disk 100 a asmelting ink of the ink ribbon. Accordingly, a rectangular area, which isfixed by the width of the row of the heat elements for the thermal head58 (width in the main scanning direction) and the moving distance of thethermal head 58 (length in the sub-scanning direction) perpendicular tothe width of the row, becomes a print range obtained by one printoperation.

An explanation will be next given of the operation of each component ofthe printing apparatus.

First, an explanation will be given of an operation in which the supporttray 5 moves to the internal and external sections of the case 1. As apreparation before printing, the tray mechanism is ejected to theoutside of the apparatus by the ejection operation and the optical disk100 a is mounted on the tray and the tray is returned to the printingapparatus, and set to the print position.

At a print starting time, as shown in FIG. 4, the support tray 5 isinserted into the case 1, and the hook receiver 29 is engaged with thehook portion 25 of the hook lever 24. The teeth portion 17 a of theactuation gear 17 meshes with the small gear of the fourth gear 7 d ofthe gear train 7. At this time, the pin 19 of the actuation gear 17 ispositioned at the end top portion of the circular path 21 whichcoincides with the end portion of the guide groove 20 formed in thelower surface of the support tray 5, and the lever 13 a of the trayposition detection switch 13 is placed at the close position C.

From this state, the eject switch 2 at the front of the case 1 isoperated. The drive motor 6 for tray starts in accordance with thisoperation, the rotational power is transmitted to the gear train 7through the belt 8, and the third gear 7 c rotates clockwise in FIG. 4.At this time, since the third gear 7 c and fourth gear 7 d are coupledto the lug mechanism, only the third gear 7 c rotates and the fourthgear 7 d does not rotates, so that the stop state of the support tray 5is maintained.

When the third gear 7 c rotates clockwise, the actuation gear 17, whichhas been meshed with the small gear 9 of the third gear 7 c, rotatesanticlockwise. At this time, the pin 19 of the actuation gear 17 movesto the guide groove 20 through the backward path 21 b of the circularpath 21.

When the actuation gear 17 rotates anticlockwise, the hook lever 24rotates anticlockwise against the spring 28 through the actuation rod 26by the actuation gear 17. By this rotation, the hook portion 25 isdetached from the hook receiver 29 and the engagement of the supporttray 5 is released. When the actuation gear 17 rotates to a fixed angle,the teeth portion 17 a of the actuation 17 is detached from the smallgear 9 and the actuation gear 17 stops at this position.

After that, when the rotational power of the third gear 7 c istransmitted to the fourth gear 7 d and the fourth gear 7 d rotatesclockwise together with the third gear 7 c. By this rotation, thesupport tray 5 moves toward the front of the case 1. At this time, thepin 19 of the actuation gear 17 relatively moves along the guide groove20 of the support tray 5. When the support tray 5 starts to move, thefront portion side end wall of the concave groove 14 of the support tray5 separates from the lever 13 a of the tray position detection switch 13and the lever 13 a moves to the neutral position N from the closeposition C accordingly. Then, when the support tray 5 moves forward andprojects to a predetermined length from the case 1, the back side endwall of the concave groove 14 abuts against the lever 13 a of the trayposition detection switch 13 and the lever 13 a moves to the openposition O from the neutral position N accordingly. Based on the switchsignal at this time, the drive motor 6 for tray is controlled to bestopped and the support tray 5 thereby stops at a predetermined ejectposition.

Here, the user mounts the optical disk 100 a on the rotatable base 32 ofthe support tray 5 and fits the disk hole at the center of the opticaldisk 100 a into the projection piece 41 elastically, so that the opticaldisk 100 a is fixed to the rotation base 32.

Next, in the case where the support tray 5 is moved into the apparatus,the user slightly presses the support tray 5 manually. By the pressingoperation, the back side end wall of the concave groove 14 separatesfrom the lever 13 a of the tray position detection switch 13 and thelever 13 a moves to the neutral position N from the open position Oaccordingly. Based on the switch signal at this time, the drive motor 6for tray is driven and reversely rotated. Additionally, even when theoperation is performed by the eject switch 2 in place of pressing thesupport tray 5 manually, the same operation is performed.

The reverse rotational power of the drive motor 6 for tray istransmitted to the gear train 7 through the belt 8, and the third gear 7c rotates anticlockwise in FIG. 3. Since the third gear 7 c is coupledto the fourth gear 7 d by the lug mechanism, the rotational power of thethird gear 7 c is not initially transmitted to the fourth gear 7 d.However, after the third gear 7 c rotates to a fixed angle, the power ofthe third gear 7 c is transmitted to the fourth gear 7 d and the fourthgear 7 d rotates anticlockwise together with the third gear 7 c.Moreover, since the teeth portion 17 a separates from the small gear 9of the third gear 7 c, the stop state of the actuation gear 17 ismaintained regardless of the rotation of the third gear 7 c. When itrotates in the anticlockwise direction of the fourth gear 7 d, thesupport tray 5 is drawn into the case 1 accordingly. At this time, thepin 19 of the actuation gear 17 relatively moves along the guide groove20 of the support tray 5.

When the support tray 5 is drawn into a predetermined position of thecase 1, that is, a print position, the front side end wall of theconcave groove 14 abuts against the lever 13 a of the tray positiondetection switch 13 and the lever 13 a moves to the close position Cfrom the neutral position N accordingly. Based on the switch signal atthis time, the drive motor 6 for tray is controlled to be stopped andthe support tray 5 thereby stops at a predetermined print position. Justbefore the support tray 5 reaches the print position, the pin of theactuation gear 17 reaches a point A of the guide groove 20 in FIG. 5,and further moves to a point B through the outward path 21 a of thecircular path 21 from the point A. Then, in accordance with movement ofthe pin 19, the actuation gear 17 rotates clockwise and the teethportion 17 a meshes with the small gear 9 of the third gear 7 c. By thismesh, the actuation gear 17 further rotates anticlockwise, and the pin19 reaches a point C of the end top portion of the circular path 21.

When the actuation gear 17 rotates clockwise, pressure to the actuationrod 26 is released. By this release, the actuation rod 26 is moved tothe forward side of the case 1, and the hook lever 24 is rotatedclockwise by the urging force of the spring 28. The hook portion 25 isplaced at an engage standby position to the hook receiver 29.Thereafter, the support tray 5 moves to the print position and stops.Just before the stop, the hook lever 24 is engaged with the hook portion25 of the hook lever 24. By this engagement, the support tray 5 isstably positioned at a predetermined print position.

Thus, in the standby state during the start of printing, the supporttray 5 is ejected to the outside of the case 1 by the eject operation,and the rotatable base 32 is placed at a predetermined stop position onthe support tray 5 at the time of returning to the case 1. Namely, oneside of the square of the cushion sheet 61 formed on the upper surfaceof the rotatable base 32 is positioned to be opposed to the printoperation range (printable range) of the thermal head 58. Moreover, therespective convex portions 38 of the lower surface of the rotatable base32 are fit into the respective concave portions 39 of the upper surfaceof the support tray 5, so that the lower surface of the rotatable base32 abuts against the upper surface of the support tray 5.

Moreover, according to this printing apparatus, when printing to oneportion on the optical disk 100 a is ended by one print operation of theprinter mechanism, the rotation base 32 is rotated to a next stopposition by a predetermined angle in order that printing should beperformed to the next print portion on the optical disk 100 a in thestate that the operation of the printer mechanism is stopped. Thefollowing will explain the operation of the rotation mechanism.

As explained above, on the upper surface of the support tray 5, thecushion sheet 61 is formed to be square-frame shaped, and the positionwhere each size of the square corresponds to the print operation rangeof the thermal head 58 becomes a stop possible position, and one to fourprint areas at the maximum on the optical disk 100 a can be arbitrarilyset.

When the drive motor 45 for a rotatable base is driven, the rotationalpower due to this drive is transmitted to the rotatable base 32 throughthe worm gear 46, the large gear 44 a of the gear 44, the small gear 44b of the gear 44, and the gear 35, and the rotatable base 32 rotatesclockwise. When the rotatable base 32 rotates, the respective convexportions 38 of the lower surface of the rotatable base 32 slide on theupper surface of the support tray 5, and the friction is thereby reducedand the rotatable base 32 rotates smoothly.

In the case where printing is performed to two portions on the opticaldisk 100 a, the rotatable base 32 is rotated 180° after the firstprinting, so that the second printing is performed. Meanwhile, in thecase where printing is performed to four portions on the optical disk100 a, the rotatable base 32 is rotated 90° after the first printing, sothat the second printing is performed. Then, the rotatable base 32 isrotated every 90° in a like manner, so that the third and fourthprinting is performed.

A predetermined rotation angle at which the rotatable base 32 should berotated is detected by the rotation position detection switch 50 and anoutput signal from the encoder 48. For example, in the case where apredetermined rotation angle is 90°, this angle is detected withreference to the point that the number of output pulses from the encoder48 reaches a predetermined number after the rotation position detectionswitch 50 detects the concave portion 51. In the case where apredetermined rotation angle is 180°, this angle is detected withreference to the point that the number of output pulses from the encoder48 reaches a predetermined number after the rotation position detectionswitch 50 detects the second concave portion 51. When the predeterminedrotation angle is detected, the drive of the drive motor 45 for arotatable base is stopped, so that the rotatable base 32 stops. When therotation of the totatable base 32 is stopped, the cushion sheet 61 isalways provided at the position corresponding to the print operationarea of the thermal head 58.

When the rotatable base 32 rotates to the predetermined angle and thecushion sheet 61 is provided at the position corresponding to the printoperation area of the thermal head 58, the respective convex portions 38fall in the respective concave portions 39 of the support tray 5 and fitthereto by the urging force of belleville-spring 36 as shown in FIG. 6B.In other words, the rotatable base 32 is moved downward. By thismovement, the rotatable base 32 is adhered to the support tray 5 throughthe friction sheet 40, so that the rotatable base 32 is stably supportedat the position with a predetermined rotation angle.

According to the above-structured printing apparatus, on the uppersurface of the rotatable base 32 that supports the optical disk 100 a,the cushion sheet 61 is adhered to the area corresponding to the movingarea of the thermal head 38 at the print operation time. The cushionsheet 61 has the size corresponding to the width of the heat element rowof the thermal head 58 and the length of the movement thereof. For thisreason, when the thermal head 58 presses against the surface of theoptical disk 100 a, the cushion sheet 61 is equally elastically deformedin the direction of the heat element row of the thermal head 58, so thatthe heat element row of the thermal head 58 comes in contact with thesurface of the optical disk 100 a uniformly as shown in FIG. 11A. As aresult, satisfactory printing can be performed.

In the case where the cushion sheet 61 is adhered to the entire area ofthe upper surface of the support tray 5 as shown in FIG. 11B, thecushion sheet 61 is not equally elastically deformed because the opticaldisk 10 a made of plastic plate material is bent as shown in FIG. 11B bythe pressure of the thermal head 58. For this reason, there occursimbalance that pressing force at the central portion is insufficient ascompared with pressing force at both end portions of the heat elementrow of the thermal head 58, exerting an unfavorable influence uponprinting.

However, according to this embodiment, since the cushion sheet 61 hasthe size corresponding to the moving range of the thermal head 58,pressing force becomes equal as each portion, so that satisfactoryprinting can be performed.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 6B, the respective convex portions 38 of therotatable base 32 are fit into the respective concave portions of thesupport tray 5, and the lower surface of the rotatable base 32 isadhered to the upper surface of the support tray 5 through the frictionsheet 40. The rotatable base 32 is structured such that the convexportions 38 formed on the lower surface to reduce a resistance load atthe time of rotating operation slide on the upper surface of the supporttray 5. However, at the predetermined rotation stop position of therotatable base 32, a space formed between the upper surface of thesupport tray 5 and the lower surface of the rotatable base 32 iseliminated, so that the optical disk 100 a is stably supported againstthe pressing from the thermal head 58. Moreover, this preventsaccidental rotation of the rotatable base 32 when the thermal head 58moves.

Furthermore, when the rotatable base 32 is driven to be rotated by thedrive motor 45 for a rotatable base, the power is transmitted to therotatable base 32 through the gear train including the worm gear 46,that is, the worm gear 46, the large gear 44 a of the gear 44, the smallgear 44 b of the gear 44, and the gear 35, so that the rotatable base 32rotates clockwise as shown by an arrow in FIG. 3. Though this will bedescribed later, the rotational operation of the rotatable base 32 andthe moving operation of the thermal head 58 are performed notsimultaneously but alternatively. The thermal head 58 performs printingas moving from the home position, which is the left end side of theframe 54 shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, to the right direction at the time ofthe print operation. In this way, at the printing portion on therotatable base 32, which is positioned at the front side of the supporttray 5, where the thermal head 58 moves to perform printing, such arelationship is established that the rotational directional of therotatable base 32 and the moving direction of the thermal head 58 at theprint operation time are opposite to each other.

When the thermal head 58 and the rotatable base 32 are alternativelydriven, at the printing portion of the rotatable base 3, for example,the thermal head 58 moves from the left to the right at the printoperation time 2. On the contrary to this, when the rotational directionof the rotatable base 32 and the moving direction of the thermal head 58at the print operation time are the same as in the case that therotation of the rotatable base 32 is anticlockwise, there is a fear thatthe rotatable base 32 will rotate slightly at the time when the thermalhead 58 is started to move by backlash caused by play of mesh of theteeth in the gear train. However, according to this embodiment, sincethe rotational directional of the rotatable base 32 and the movingdirection of the thermal head 58 at the print operation time areopposite to each other, no backlash occurs and slight rotation of therotatable base 32 can be prevented, so that satisfactory printing can beperformed.

As further explanation is given, friction between the thermal head 58and the back surface of the ink ribbon is extremely small. While, largefriction is generated between a surface, which is opposite to the backsurface of the ink ribbon, where ink is coated and the surface of theoptical disk 100 a where the ink-coated surface abuts. Since thefriction between the thermal head 58 and the back surface of the inkribbon is extremely small and sliding occurs therebetween, no force isapplied onto the optical disk 100 a in accordance with the movement ofthe thermal head 58 even if the thermal head 58 moves on the opticaldisk 100 a. However, when slight friction is generated between thethermal head 58 and the back surface of the ink ribbon for some reason,this becomes power that allows the optical disk 100 a to be moved in thedirection corresponding to the moving direction of the thermal head 58and acts on the support tray 5 through the optical disk 100 a, so thatrotation is performed by the amount corresponding to the backlash of thegears which form the rotation drive mechanism of the support tray 5. Forthis reason, according to this embodiment, the support tray 5 is stoppedduring the print operation and printing is performed in a state that theoptical disk 100 a as the printing object to be mounted stands till, andthis prevents the printing object from moving during the print operationand an unfavorable influence from being exerted upon the printingresult.

Moreover, the gear train includes the worm gear 46 having a merit thatit has efficient control over a force applied from the side of the loadopposite to the side of the drive source. This eliminates the accidentalrotation of the rotatable base 32 and the rotatable base 32 ismaintained in a fixed state without fail, so that satisfactory printingcan be performed.

An explanation will be next given of the operation of the printermechanism.

In the printer mechanism at a print standby time, the head arm 96 on thecarriage 56 is held substantially horizontally and the thermal head 58is placed at a print standby position spaced from the surface of theoptical disk 100 a by a fixed distance. Moreover, the carriage 56 stopsat the home position set in the vicinity of the left end proton of themoving range.

Next, when printing is started, the drive motor 60 for a carriage isdriven forward and the output gear 86 rotates anticlockwise. Therotational power of the output gear 86 is transmitted to the first,second, third and fourth gears 87 a, 87 b, 87 c, and 87 d. Then, thethird gear 87 c, which meshes with the rack, rotates anticlockwise andthereby the carriage 56 is moved along the guide shaft 55 in the rightdirection. Moreover, the fourth gear 87 d rotates and thereby the ribbonwinding shaft 88 rotates in the ribbon winding direction together withthe fourth gear 87 d. Accordingly, the winding core 84 in the ribboncartridge 59, which engages with the ribbon winding shaft 88, rotatesand thereby the ink ribbon 80 is sequentially wound and runs.

In parallel with this operation, the sun gear 92 of the swing clutch 91is driven to be rotated by the rotation of the output gear 86. Inaccordance with the rotation of the sun gear 92, one planet gear 94 acomes close to the cam gear 89 to mesh with the cam gear 89. By thismesh, the rotational power of the sun gear 92 is transmitted to the camgear 89, so that the cam gear 89 rotates clockwise.

The cam gear 89 rotates clockwise in the forward direction and therebythe pin 98 in the cam groove 90 moves upward together with the head arm96. The head arm 96, which moves with the pin 96, rotates anticlockwisearound the shaft 95. By this rotation, the thermal head 58 movesdownward and inclines with respect to the horizontal direction as shownin FIG. 16B.

The tooth omitting portion (not shown) is formed on a part of theperiphery of the cam gear 89. When the cam gear 89 rotates by a fixedangle, the planet gear 94 a falls in the omitting portion and runs idle.As a result, the thermal head 58 is held at the print position, whichmaintains a predetermined inclination angle and which contacts thesurface of the optical disk 100 a to sandwich the ink ribbon 80therebetween. In this case, the thermal head 58 comes in contact withthe surface of the optical disk 100 a at a predetermined pressure byelastic force due to the spring 97. When the motor 60 is further drivenforward, since the planet gear 94 a is positioned in the tooth omittingportion, the ink ribbon 80 is driven to be wound while the carriage 56is moved in the right direction in a state that the thermal head 58 ismaintained at the print position.

Then, at the same time with the movement of carriage 56 and the windingof ink ribbon 80, the heating material of thermal head 58 is driven tobe heated based on print data and ink of the rink ribbon 80 issequentially melted, thermally transferred on the surface of the opticaldisk 100 a, so that a character such as predetermined letter, mark, andthe like is printed on a predetermined print area corresponding to themoving range of the carriage 56 (thermal head 58).

When the thermal head 59 ends the printing, the motor 60 is drivenreservedly and the output gear 86 rotates in a reverse direction(clockwise). By the reverse rotation of the output gear 86, the thirdgear 87 c also rotates reversely clockwise. In accordance with thereverse rotation of the third gear 87 c, the carriage 56 moves in thereverse direction (left direction) along the guide shaft 55, and returnsto the home position.

At this point, since the fourth gear 87 d is coupled to the ribbonwinding shaft 88 through the one-way clutch, the reverse rotatingoperation of the fourth gear 87 d is not transmitted to the ribbonwinding shaft 88 and the ribbon 80 is not wound.

At the same time, by the reverse rotation of the output gear 86, the sungear 92 of the swing clutch 91 rotates reversely. By the reverserotation of the sun gear 92, one planet gear 94 separates from the camgear 89 and other planet gear 94 b comes close to the cam gear 89, andmeshes therewith. By this mesh, the rotational power of the sun gear 92is transmitted to the cam gear 89, and the cam gear 89 rotates reverselyanticlockwise.

Then, by the reverse rotation of the cam gear 89, the pin 98 in the camgroove 90 moves downward together with the head arm 96. Then, the headarm 96 rotates around the shaft 95 clockwise. By this rotation, thethermal head 58 moves upward and separates from the surface of theoptical disk 100 a, and the head arm 96 returns to the initialhorizontal state. In addition, the tooth omitting portion (not shown) isformed on a part of the periphery of the cam gear 89. When the cam gear89 rotates by a fixed angle and the thermal head 58 returns to the printstandby position, the planet gear 94 b falls in the omitting portion andruns idle. After the planet gear 94 b falls in the omitting portion,only the carriage 56 moves in the reverse direction (left direction) bythe rotation of the motor 60 in a state that the thermal head 58 ismaintained at the print standby position.

FIG. 10 shows the structure of an electrical circuit of the printingapparatus according to this embodiment. The printing apparatus includesa control section 80. A personal computer 68 is connected to the controlsection 70 by an USB cable 67 via an interface (I/F) 71.

The control section 70 includes a ROM 72 and a RAM 73. In the ROM 72,program data such as a system program that controls the operation ofeach component of the printing apparatus in accordance with a printcontrol signal from the personal computer 68 is stored. Moreover, in theRAM 73, a memory that sores print data transmitted from the personalcomputer is included.

Further, the ink jet switch 2, tray position detection switch 13 thatdetects the moving position of the support tray 5, rotatable base'srotation position detection switch 50 that detects the rotation positionof the rotatable base 32 on the support tray 5, printing material kinddetection switches 64 and 65 that detect the kind of printing object (tobe explained in a second embodiment), and encoder 48 are connected tothe control section 70, respectively. Output signals of these componentsare supplied to the control section 70.

Then, the motor 6 for a tray, drive motor 45 for a rotatable base,thermal head 58, and drive motor 60 for a carriage are connected to thecontrol section 70 via a drive circuit 70, a drive circuit 76, a drivecircuit 77, and a drive circuit 78, respectively.

An explanation will be next given of print processing of the printingapparatus with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 14. This printprocessing shows a case in which printing is performed to two areas P1and P2 on the optical disk 100 a as shown in FIG. 2.

The support tray 5 is drawn to the outside of the printing apparatus bythe eject operation, and the optical disk 100 a is set and moved intothe apparatus. Also, character strings to be printed to two portions onthe optical disk 100 a are input from the keyboard of the personalcomputer 68. Then, when printing is instructed from the personalcomputer 68, print data corresponding to the input character strings isgenerated by the personal computer 68 (step S1), and print data forperforming printing to the area P1, a first portion on the optical disk100 a is transferred to the printing apparatus (step S2). Moreover, aprint start command is transferred to the printing apparatus from thepersonal computer 68 (step S3).

The printing apparatus stores the print data for the area P1, i.e. afirst portion received from the personal computer 68 to the RAM 73 (stepS4), and performs print processing to the area P1, i.e. the firstportion on the optical disk 100 a upon reception of the print startcommand.

More specifically, the control section 70 of the printing apparatusdrives the motor 60 for a carriage forward, so that the thermal head 58is moved to the print position that abuts against the label surface ofthe optical disk 100 a. The control section 70 transfers print datastored in the RAM 73 to the thermal head 58 one line by one as movingthe carriage 56 from the home position along the moving path. Thecontrol section 70 performs thermal printing for a first portion to thelabel surface of the optical disk through the ink ribbon by driving thethermal head 58. At the print time, on the upper surface of the supporttray 5, the cushion sheet 61 having the size corresponding to the movingrange is provided on the area corresponding to the moving range of thethermal head 58. For this reason, when the heat element row of thethermal head 58 presses against the label surface of the optical disk100 a, the thermal head 58 comes in contact with the surface of theoptical disk 100 a uniformly because the cushion sheet 61 is elasticallydeformed equally in the direction in which the heat element row is, sothat satisfactory printing is performed. When the thermal head 58 endsprinting of all print data for the first portion, the control section 70stops the drive of the thermal head 58 and drives the drive motor 60 fora carriage reversely, so that the thermal head 58 is moved from thelabel surface of the optical disk 100 a to a non-print position and thecarriage 56 is moved to the home position.

Then, when the carriage returns to the home position, the drive motor 60for a carriage is stopped, so that the first print operation is ended.When the printing ends, the printing apparatus sends a print end commandto the personal computer 68 (step S6).

The personal computer 68 that has received the print end command sends arotation instruction command of support tray 5 to the printing apparatus(step S7). Next, the printing apparatus drives the drive motor 45 for arotatable base to rotate the rotatable base 32 clockwise. Then, when therotatable base 32 rotates by a predetermined angle, the drive of thedrive motor 45 for a rotatable base is stopped (step S8). Here, thepredetermined angle is 180°. Namely, as mentioned above, on the outerperipheral surface of the rotatable base 32, the concave portions 51 areformed at 90 degrees intervals, and after the rotatable base's rotationposition detection switch 50 detects the second concave portion 51, therotation angle at which the number of output pulses from the encoder 48reaches a predetermined number is set to 180°. The drive of the drivemotor 45 for a rotatable base is stopped when the rotation angle of 180°is detected based on the signals of the rotatable base's rotationposition detection switch 50 and encoder 48.

The rotatable base 32 rotates 180° and thereby the cushion sheet 61,which is positioned at the opposite side of the cushion sheet 61, isplaced at the position corresponding to the print operation area of thethermal head 58. This state becomes a predetermined stop position forthe rotatable base 32 where the cushion sheet 61 is positioned to beopposite to the print operation area of the thermal head 58. Asmentioned above, at this position, the lower surface of the rotatablebase 32, which floats from the support tray 5 by contacting only theconvex portion 38 during rotation, abuts against the upper surface ofthe support frame 5.

When the rotation operation of the rotatable base 32 is ended, theprinting apparatus sends a rotation end command to the personal computer68 (step S9).

Upon reception of the rotation end command from the printing apparatus,the personal computer 68 sends print data for performing printing to thearea P2, i.e. a second portion on the optical disk 100 a to the printingapparatus (step S10), and sends a print start command (step S11).

The printing apparatus stores print data for the area P2, i.e. a secondportion that has received from the personal computer 68 to the RAM 73(step S12), and performs print processing of print data for the area P2,i.e. the second portion upon reception of the print start command (stepS13). In connection with the this print processing, similar to step S6,the print operation of the printer mechanism is performed to the opticaldisk 100 a that is held on the rotatable base 32 in a stationary manner.At this time, regarding the optical disk 100 a, the print area for asecond portion on the optical disk 100 a is positioned with respect tothe printer mechanism by the rotation processing of step S8. Whenprinting for a second portion on the optical disk 100 a ends, theprinting apparatus sends a print end command to the personal computer 68(step S14).

After that, the personal computer 68 sends an eject command for ejectingthe support tray 5 (step S15). Then, the printing apparatus that hasreceived the command drives the drive motor 6 for a tray to eject thesupport tray 5 to the outside of the case 1 (step S16). This makes itpossible to take up the optical disk 100 a having a desired characterstring on upper and lower areas P1 and P2 that sandwich a circular holeas a center.

Here, the direction in which the character strings to be printed on theareas P1 and P2 face may be arbitrarily controlled by a settingoperation. For example, let a case be considered where the first printoperation is performed to the first print area P1 of the optical disk100 a shown in FIG. 2 in a manner that the upper side of a characterstring “ABC” comes to the side of the circular hole of the optical disk100 a, and a character string “EFG” is printed on the second print areaP2 of the optical disk 100 a with the character string's lower sidecoming to the side of the circular hole of the optical disk 100 a. Inthe printing operation to be performed to the first area P1, printpattern data in which the characters in the character string “ABC” areexpanded normally in the order of the characters is transferred to thethermal head 58 line by line in that order of the characters when thecarriage 56 moves from left to right of FIG. 2 (from upper side to lowerside of FIG. 1), thereby printing is performed. In the printingoperation to be performed to the second area P2, printing is performedby transferring a print pattern in which the character string “EFG” isexpanded in a manner that it is turned upside down and left-side right,to the thermal head 58 line by line. Or, print pattern data in which thecharacters are laid in the normal order may be expanded, and may be readout reversely and turned upside down when it is transferred to thethermal head 58. Additionally, in the case where the character stringsto be printed to the areas P1 and P2 should be both laid out with theirupper sides coming to the side of the circular hole, print pattern datain which the characters are laid in the normal order may be generatedand transferred to the thermal head 58 in the order of the characters ineach printing operation.

In addition, the printing apparatus sent the end command to the personalcomputer 68 every time when print processing and rotation processingended, and received the start command for next processing from thepersonal computer 68. However, the printing apparatus may, at first,receive print data for two portions and the print start command from thepersonal computer 68, and all of a series of processing thereafter maybe controlled to be performed by only the printing apparatus. Moreover,a keyboard, a display section, memory of character fonts are provided tothe printing apparatus to have the function of accepting data input, thefunction of editing input data and the function of generating printeddata, and thereby all processing and control may be singly performed bythe printing apparatus without the need of connecting to the personalcomputer 68.

As explained above, according to the first embodiment, after printingfor a first portion is performed to the label surface of the opticaldisk 100 a, the rotatable base 32 on which the optical disk 100 a ismounted is automatically rotated by a predetermined angle to performprinting for a second portion. Accordingly, such a complicated task isnot needed that the support tray 5 is ejected to change the direction ofthe optical disk 100 a every time when printing is performed to theother portion subsequent to performing printing to one portion of thelabel surface of the optical disk 100 a. This makes it possible toprovide printing to a plurality of portions of the surface of theoptical disk 100 a easily and efficiently.

Moreover, in this printing apparatus, at the time of performing printprocessing to the first and second portions in steps S5 and S13, thethermal head 58 and the drive motor 60 for a carriage are driven toperform a print operation. During the print operation, the drive motor45 for a rotatable base that drives the support tray 5 stops driving,and the support tray 5 is in a stationary state. Further, in step S8,when the support tray 5 is driven to be rotated, the print operation isin a stop state. In this way, printing means and rotation driving meansare selectively driven and both are not simultaneously driven and thisprovides advantages in which peak consumption power of the drivingapparatus can be reduced, the scale of the driving power supply sourceto be mounted on the printing apparatus can be decreased, and thedriving power circuit can be made compact at low cost.

(Second Embodiment)

An explanation will be next given of the printing apparatus of thesecond embodiment.

The printing apparatus of the first embodiment was used to performprinting to the label of the optical disk 100 a. The printing apparatusof the second embodiment has the function capable of performing printingto both the label of the optical disk 100 a and paper material.

Generally, as shown in FIG. 9, the optical disk 100 a such as CD-R andthe like is contained in a transparent case 100 b, and paper material100 c such as a cover, jacket, and the like is further contained in thecase 100 b. The paper material 100 c has a rectangular shape whose oneside, which is substantially the same length as the diameter of thedisk-like optical disk 100 c.

In the printing apparatus of this embodiment, such the optical disk 100a and paper material 100 c are used as printing objects. The rotatablebase 32 has a circular shape corresponding to the disk-like optical disk100 a, and the support tray 5 has a rectangular shape corresponding tothe paper material 100 c. Then, at the time of printing the title andthe like to the optical disk 100 a, the optical disk 100 a is mounted onthe rotatable base 32, and at the time of printing the title and thelike to the paper material 100 c, the paper material 100 c is mounted onthe support tray 5 including the rotatable base 32. FIG. 12 shows astate where the paper material 100 c is mounted on the support tray 5which is ejected from the apparatus, and FIG. 13 shows a state where thesupport tray 5 on which the paper material 100 c is mounted is moved toa predetermined print position in the apparatus.

Then, since the printing apparatus of the embodiment makes it possibleto perform printing to a different printing object, the kinds ofprinting objects are detected to allow print processing to be executedaccordingly.

Namely, a gate-like frame 63, which is positioned at the back side ofthe frame 54, is attached onto the base 3 of the case 1. A pair of firstand second detection switches 64 and 65 as kind detection means fordetecting the kind of printing object is attached to the lower surfaceof the frame 63. The first and second detection switches 64 and 65 arespaced from each other to have a predetermined distance in a widthdirection of the case 1. The first detection switch 64 is attached tosubstantially the intermediate portion of the frame 63, and the seconddetection switch 65 is attached to the position biased to one end of theframe 63.

Then, the optical disk 100 a is mounted on the rotatable base 32, andwhen the support tray 5 is drawn into the case 1 and inserted thereto inthis state, the peripheral portion of the optical disk 100 a comes incontact with an actuator 64 a of the first detection switch 64 as shownin FIG. 8A, so that the first detection switch 64 is turned on. At thistime, the optical disk 100 a does not come in contact with the seconddetection switch 65, and the second detection switch therefore remainsbeing turned OFF. Also, the paper material 100 c is mounted on thesupport tray 5 as shown in FIG. 12, and when the support tray 5 is drawninto the case 1 and inserted thereto in this state as shown in FIG. 13,the peripheral portion of the paper material 100 c comes in contact withan actuator 64 a of the first detection switch 64, so that the firstdetection switch 64 is turned on. At the same time, as shown in FIG. 8B,the peripheral portion of the paper material 100 c comes in contact withan actuator 65 a of the second detection switch 65, so that the seconddetection switch 65 is turned on. The kind of printing object can bejudged by the operational combination of such two detection switches.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing print processing of the printingapparatus according to the second embodiment.

In this print processing, either the optical disk 100 a or papermaterial 100 c as a printing object is set on the support tray 5. Twoportions are preset as printing portions.

First, the printing apparatus receives print data for two portionstransferred from the personal computer 68 (step S101), and stores theprint data to the RAM 73 (step S102). Sequentially, the printingapparatus receives a print start command from the personal computer 68(step S103).

The control section 70 of the printing apparatus drives the drive motor60 for a carriage forward to move the thermal head 58 to the printposition abutting against the label surface of the optical disk 100 a.The control section 70 transfers print data for the first portion storedin the RAM 73 to the thermal head 58 one line by one as moving thecarriage 56 from the home position along the moving path. The controlsection 70 performs thermal printing to the printing object through theink ribbon by driving the thermal head 58. After printing, the controlsection 70 drives the drive motor 60 for a carriage reversely to returnthe thermal head 58 to the home position (step S104).

At the print time, on the upper surface of the support tray 5, thecushion sheet 61 having the size corresponding to the moving range isprovided on the area corresponding to the moving range of the thermalhead 58. For this reason, when the thermal head 58 presses against thelabel surface of the paper material 100 c equally, so that satisfactoryprinting can be performed.

Next, the control section 70 determines the kind of printing objectbased on the operation states of the first and second detection switches64 and 65 (step S105). The control section 70 determines that theprinting object is the optical disk 100 a when the first detectionswitch 64 is ON and the second detection switch 65 is OFF. While, thecontrol section 70 determines that the printing object is the papermaterial 100 c when both the first detection switch 64 and the seconddetection switch 65 are ON.

When the printing object is determined as the optical disk 100 a in stepS105, the control section 70 drives the drive motor 45 for a rotatablebase to rotate the rotatable base 32 clockwise in order to performprinting for a second portion to the label surface of the optical disk100 a. After that, when rotating the rotatable base 32 180°, the controlsection 70 stops the drive of the motor 45 based on signals from therotation position detection switch 50 and the encoder 48 (step S106).

Then, the control section 70 performs printing for a second portion tothe label surface of the optical disk 100 a (step S107). When the printprocessing for a second portion is ended, the control section 70 drivesthe drive motor 6 for a tray to eject the support 5 to the outside ofthe case 1, and ends the processing (step S108, END).

When determining that the printing object is the paper material 100 cafter the end of the printing for a first portion, the control section70 drives the drive motor 45 for a rotatable base to drive the drivemotor 6 for a tray without rotating the support tray 5 180°, and ejectsthe support tray 5 to the outside of the apparatus (step S109).

The user extracts the paper material 100 c from the ejected support tray5, and rotates the paper material 100 c 180° manually in the horizontalplane to change the direction. In this state, the user mounts the papermaterial 100 c on the support tray 5 again to make preparations forprinting for a second portion.

After that, a standby state for print restart instruction is set. Forexample, when judging that that the print restart is instructed by theeject switch operation done by the user (step S100), the control section70 drives the drive motor 6 for a tray to pull the support tray 5 to theprint position of the apparatus (step S111). After the support tray 5moves to a predetermined position of the apparatus, the control section70 performs print processing for a second portion in the same way as theprint processing for a first portion (step S112). When the printprocessing for a second portion is ended, the control section 70 ejectsthe support tray 5 to the outside of the apparatus and ends theprocessing (step S113, END).

In the printing apparatus of the second embodiment, since the printingarea is set to a plurality of portions of the label surface of theoptical disk 110 a, the optical disk 100 a is driven to be rotated inthe apparatus. Moreover, in terms of the structure in which printingmeans and rotation driving means are selectively driven, the same effectas the printing apparatus according to the first embodiment can beobtained.

It is assumed that when the size of one size of the paper material 100 cis substantially the same as the diameter of the optical disk 100 a, therotatable base 32 is rotated in the case 1 to change the direction ofthe paper material 100 c automatically to deal with the printing to aplurality of portions after the printing to one portion is ended. Inthis case, a rotation diameter of the rectangular paper material 100 cis equal to the length of a diagonal line, and the length becomes largerthan the diameter of the disk-like optical disk 100 a. For this reason,there is a need to increase the size of the support tray 5 that supportsthese two printing objects and the size of the case 1 that contains inconsideration of the rotation of the square paper material 100 c, withthe result that the entirety of the printing apparatus will be enlarged.

However, in the printing apparatus according to the second embodiment,the rotatable base 32 is rotated in the case 1 to change the directionautomatically on only the case of the disk-like optical disk 100 a. Inthe case of the rectangular paper material 100 c, the support tray 5 isejected to change the direction manually every time when one printingends. For this reason, the width of the support tray 5 is made a littlelarger than the diameter of the optical disk 100 a, thereby eliminatingthe need for increasing the size up to the length of the diagonal lineof the paper material 100 c, so that the entirety of the printingapparatus can be miniaturized.

Additionally, before the printing is started, the support tray 5 isejected to the outside of the apparatus by the eject operation to setthe printing object on the support tray 5. At this time, the rotatablebase 32 is rotated in the apparatus in advance and placed at apredetermined stop position based on the signals from the rotationposition detection switch 50 and the encoder 48, thereafter being movedto the outside of the apparatus.

As a result, even if the rotatable base 32 is rotated by some externalforces and detached from the predetermined stop position, it is possibleto place the rotatable base 32 at the predetermined stop position bythis positioning process at the time when the printing object is set.

(Third Embodiment)

An explanation will be next given of the printing apparatus having theapparatus structure which is appropriate to the use in a verticalposition.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view showing the entirety of a printingapparatus according to this embodiment. FIGS. 19 and 20 are a side viewand a front view, each showing the structure of the main parts of theprinting apparatus.

This printing apparatus includes a box-shape case 101 with the shorterside at the top as an apparatus main body. On both outer side surfacesof the bottom of the case 101, there is formed a leg portion 102 tostabilize placement to an installing surface. The case 101 is installeduprightly on the installing surface with the leg portion 102 at thebottom.

A base 103 is provided in the case 101, and a tray 121, which supportsan optical disk 170 as a printing object, is provided on the base 103.Moreover, in the case 101, there is provided a printer section 135 thatperforms printing of title and the like of data recorded on the opticaldisk 170 to the surface (label surface) of the optical recording mediumsupported by the tray 121.

The tray 121 has a rectangular plate-like tray main body 122. At oneside surface of the tray main body 122 to be used as a disk supportsurface 123 that supports the optical disk 170, there is provided arotatable base 125, which is rotatable around a rotating shaft 124 andwhich supports the optical disk 170.

The rotatable base 125 is formed to have a circular shape correspondingto the shape of the optical disk 170. A cushion sheet 126 is adhered tothe surface of the rotatable base 125 that abuts against the opticaldisk 170. At the central portion thereof, a plurality of engaging claws127 a, which engage with the inner periphery of a circular hole 171 ofthe optical disk 170, is formed to be projected from the surface of therotatable base 125. Also, on the peripheral portion of the cushion sheet126, a plurality of engaging claws 127 b, which engage with the outerperiphery of the optical disk 170, is formed to be projected from thesurface of the rotatable base 125. When engaging with the optical disk170, these engaging claws 127 a and 127 b have a projection height tosuch a degree that they do not project through the label surface of theoptical disk 170. The engaging claws 127 a and 127 b engage with theoptical disk 170, and the optical disk 170 is thereby held by therotatable base 125.

The tray 121 is placed in the case 101 with the shorter side at the topin a state that the disk support surface 123 is directed substantiallyvertically. The tray 121 is guided along guide rails 104 a and 104 bprovided on the base 103 at upper and lower positions in the case 101.The tray 121 is provided to be movable between a predeterminedcontaining position in the apparatus that performs printing to theoptical disk 170 and an eject position, which is the outside of theapparatus, where the optical disk 170 is attachable and detachable.

A rack 128 is provided at the side edge of the lower side of the traymain body 122. In the case 101, there is provided a stepping motor (traydriving motor) 107 that rotates a drive gear 105 forward and reverselythrough the drive gear 105, which meshes with a rack 128, and a geartrain 106. Then, the motor 107 is driven in one direction by theoperation of an eject button 109 provided on a front panel 108 of thecase 101, so that the tray 121 placed in the apparatus is ejected to theoutside of the apparatus from an opening portion 110 formed at the frontsurface of the case 101. Moreover, the motor 107 is driven in theopposite direction by the operation of the eject button 109, so that thetray 121 placed at the outside of the apparatus is moved to thecontaining position in the apparatus.

Additionally, in the case 101, there are provided position detectionswitches 111 and 112 which detect the moving position of the tray 121 inthe inside and outside of the apparatus. Based on the signals from theseposition detection switches 111 and 112, the drive of the motor 107 iscontrolled, so that the tray 121 is controlled to be stopped at apredetermined stop position in the inside and outside of the case 101.

Moreover, at the back end portion of the tray main body 122, there isprovided an engaging portion 132 that is engageable/disengageablewith/from a hook 113 provided in the case 101. When the tray 121 iscontained at a predetermined position in the case 101, the engagingportion 132 is engaged with the hook 113, so that the tray 121 is heldto be fixed to the case 101.

When an eject button 109 is operated, a solenoid 114 is driven. As aresult, a plunger 115 is sucked, and the hook 113 rotates around a shaft116 clockwise from the position shown in FIG. 19 to release theengagement between the hook 113 and the engaging portion 132.Sequentially, the motor 107 is driven, so that the tray 121 moved to theoutside of the apparatus. After the motor 107 is started, the drive ofthe solenoid 114 is stopped and the hook 113 is returned to the positionof FIG. 19 by the function of a return spring 117. Moreover, the motor107 is driven reversely, so that the tray 121 moves to the inside of theapparatus. Then, the engaging portion 132 abuts against the hook 113,and the hook 113 is engaged with the engaging portion 132. The reason isthat since the top ends of both the engaging portion 132 and hook 113are inclined, the hook 113 is returned to the original position by thereturn spring 117 after the hook 113 is pushed by the engaging portion132 to rotate clockwise.

The rotatable base 125 provided on the disk support surface 123 of thetray 121 has the rotating shaft 124 at its center, and the rotatingshaft 124 is rotatably supported by the tray main body 122 to berotatable to the tray main body 122. A motor 129, which is provided atthe back surface side of the disk support surface 123 of the tray mainbody 122, is used as a drive source and driving force of the motor 129is transmitted to the rotating shaft 124, so that the rotatable base 125is driven to be rotated clockwise.

In addition, the tray main body 122 is provided with a rotation angledetection switch 131, which detects a rotation angle of the rotatablebase 125 to control the drive of the motor 129. The detection switch 131is actuated by projections for a switch operation (not shown) providedon two portions of the outer periphery of the rotatable base 125 to beopposed 180°. The stop position of the rotatable base 125 can bedetected by the actuation of the switch 131.

Moreover, in the case 101, there is provided the printer section 135,which is placed at the disk support surface 123 of the tray 121 to beopposite to the rotatable base 125 and which is composed of a thermaltransfer printer.

The printer section 135 includes a bridge-shape printer frame 136. Legportions 137 a and 137 b, which are provided at both end portions of theprinter frame 136, are fixed to the base 103 of the case 101. A verticalframe portion 137 c, which is vertically stretched between the legportions 137 a and 137 b, is placed to be biased to the front side ofthe case 101 from the rotation center portion of the rotatable base 125.

The printer frame 136 supports a carriage 141 equipped with a thermalhead 142 and forms a running path where the carriage 141 is moved backand forth vertically along the rotatable base 125. A guide shaft 138,which guides the carriage 141 slidably, is provided in parallel with avertical frame portion 137 c. Moreover, a rack 139 and a guide rail 140are provided along an opposite face side to the rotatable base 125 ofthe vertical frame portion 137 c. The rack 139 meshes with a drive gear144 provided at the carriage 141 when the carriage 141 runs. The guiderail 140 guides the carriage 141. The carriage 141 is structured in aself-propelling system in which the drive gear 144 is driven by theequipped stepping motor 143 to move back and forth along the rack 139.

A ribbon cartridge 161, which contains an ink ribbon 162 for thermaltransfer printing, is attached to the front side of the carriage 141.The ribbon cartridge 161 is replaceable by opening a printer cover 118provided at the front of the case 101.

Next, the printer section 135 will be further explained based on FIG.21A and FIG. 21B. FIGS. 21A and 21B correspond to FIGS. 16A and 16Bexplained in the first embodiment, and the printer section 135 of thisembodiment has substantially the same structure as the structure of theprinter mechanism of the first embodiment. For the convenience of theexplanation, different reference numerals are added to the componentscommon to the printer mechanism of the first embodiment. However, thefunctions and operations are the same, except the running direction ofthe carriage. In the explanation set forth below, though some areduplicated, the structure and the operations of the printer section 135will be briefly described.

The thermal head 142 is provided at the front of the carriage 141. Inthe carriage 141, there are provided a running drive mechanism of thecarriage 141, a head moving mechanism of the thermal head 142, and awinding mechanism of the ink ribbon 162. The stepping motor 143, whichis a starting source for these mechanisms and which rotatable forwardand reversely, is attached to the back surface of the carriage 141.

The ribbon cartridge 161 includes a case 163. On the case 163, a concaveportion 164 to which the thermal head 142 is inserted. In the case 163,a ribbon supply core 165 and a ribbon winding core 166 are provided. Theink ribbon 162 paid out from the ribbon supply core 165 is guided by aplurality of guide pins 167, and is wound around the wind core 166through the concave portion 164 where the thermal head 142 ispositioned.

In the carriage 141, there is provided an output gear 145 attached to anoutput shaft of the stepping motor 143, and a large-diameter gear 146 ameshes with the output gear 145. Moreover, a small-diameter gear 146 bprovided coaxially with the large-diameter gear 146 a meshes with thedrive gear 144 that meshes with the rack 139. The drive gear 144 mesheswith the ribbon winding gear 147. Moreover, a ribbon winding shaft 148is provided coaxially with a rotating shaft of the ribbon winding gear147 through a one-way clutch (not shown). The ribbon winding shaft 148projects to the front of the carriage 141 to engage with the windingcore 166 of the ribbon cartridge 161.

Moreover, a cam gear 149 is provided in the carriage 141. The cam gear149 is provided with an arc-shape cam groove 150, which is off-centeredagainst the center of the rotation. Then, a swing clutch 151 is formedbetween the cam gear 149 and the output gear 145.

The swing clutch 151 is composed of a sun gear 92, which meshes with theoutput gear 145, and a pair of planet gears 154 a and 154 b, which meshwith the sun gear 152 and which are supported to be movable in thecircumferential direction of the sun gear 152 through an arm 153.

In the carriage 141, there is provided a head arm 155 to which thethermal head 142 is attached to be rotatable around the center of ashaft 156. The head arm 155 is urged anticlockwise by a spring 157provided at one end side in a tensioned state. Further, the head arm 155is provided with a pin 158 close to the one end. The pin 158 is slidablyinserted to the cam groove 150 of the cam gear 149.

Next, the operation of the printer section 135 will be explained. In thestandby state for the printing operation, the carriage 141 stops at thehome position which is around the upper end position in the moving rangeon the running path which is formed in the vertical direction. As shownin FIG. 21A, the thermal head 142 is in a state where it is located atthe print standby position separated from the surface of the opticaldisk 170.

When the motor 143 is driven forward from this state, the output gear145 is rotated anticlockwise, and the carriage 141 runs verticallydownward along the guide shaft 138 and the guide rail 140 due to theanticlockwise rotation of the drive gear 144 meshing with the rack 139.The ribbon winding shaft 148 is rotated in the ribbon winding directionby the rotation of the ribbon winding gear 147, and the ink ribbon 162paid out from the supply core 165 is sequentially wound around thewinding core 166.

Further, the sun gear 152 of the swing clutch 151 meshing with theoutput gear 145 rotates, and the planet gear 154 a on one sideapproaches the cam gear 149 and meshes with this. Due to this, therotation power of the sun gear 152 is transmitted to the cam gear 149,and the cam gear 149 thereby rotates clockwise, and the head arm 155rotates anticlockwise around the shaft 156. As a result, as shown inFIG. 21B, the thermal head 142 moves to the print position which abutsthe optical disk 170.

A tooth omitting portion (not shown) is formed on a part of theperiphery of the cam gear 149. When the cam gear 149 is rotated by afixed angle, the planet gear 154 a falls in the tooth omitting portionand runs idle. For this reason, the thermal head 142 is maintained atthe print position.

When the motor 143 is further driven forward, since the planet gear 154a is positioned in the tooth omitting portion, the carriage 141 movesvertically downward on the running path and the ink ribbon 162 is wound,with the thermal head 142 maintained at the print position. Then, alongwith the move of the carriage 141 and the winding of the ink ribbon 162,the heat elements of the thermal head 142 are driven based on the printdata to generate heat, sequentially melting ink on the ink ribbon 162.In response to this, the ink is thermally transferred onto the surfaceof the optical disk 170, and printing of a title and the like isperformed to a predetermined print area on the surface of the opticaldisk 170 within the moving range of the thermal head 142.

Referring back to FIG. 18, an area A on the rotatable base 125 shown bya broken line indicates the position of an area corresponding to amoving range where the thermal head 142 moves when the tray 121 iscontained at a predetermined containing position in the case 101. Awidth W corresponds to a width of a heating element column of thethermal head 142, and a length L corresponds to a distance where thethermal head 142 is movable.

Moreover, an area B shown by a broken line in FIG. 18 indicates a printarea, which is a short strip shape, where printing is performed to theoptical disk 170 on the area A when the optical disk 170 is supported bythe rotatable base 125. This corresponds to the size of the area A.

When the carriage 141 moves to the lower end of the moving range and theprint operation ends, the motor 143 is driven reservedly and the outputgear 145 rotates in a reverse direction (clockwise). In accordance withthis operation, the drive gear 144 also rotates reversely clockwise, andthe carriage 141 starts to move to the home position, which is placed atthe vertically upper position, along the guide shaft 138 and the guiderail 140.

At this point, since the ribbon winding gear 147 is coupled to theribbon winding shaft 148 through the one-way clutch, the rotation of thedrive gear 144 is not transmitted to the ribbon winding shaft 148. Bythe reverse rotation of the output gear 145, the sun gear 152 of theswing clutch 151 rotates reversely, and one planet gear 154 a separatesfrom the cam gear 149. At the same time, other planet gear 154 b comesclose to the cam gear 149, and meshes therewith. By this mesh, therotational power of the sun gear 152 is transmitted to the cam gear 149,and the cam gear 149 rotates reversely anticlockwise.

Then, by the reverse rotation of the cam gear 149, the head arm 155rotates around the shaft 156 clockwise and is moved up to the printstandby position. In addition, the tooth omitting portion (not shown) isformed on a part of the periphery of the cam gear 149. When the cam gear149 rotates by a fixed angle and the thermal head 142 returns to theprint standby position, the planet gear 154 b falls in the omittingportion and runs idle. After the planet gear 154 b falls in the omittingportion, only the carriage 141 moves to the home position in a statethat the thermal head 142 is maintained at the print standby position bythe reverse drive of the motor 143.

FIG. 22 is a view showing the relationship of force acting on thecarriage 141.

It is assumed that mass of the carriage 141 is m[Kg], power by which thethermal head 142 presses the optical disk 170 is P, reaction force whichthe carriage 141 receives by power P is N[N], and a frictionalcoefficient between the back surface of the ink ribbon 162 and thethermal head 142 is μ[−]. Moreover, a frictional coefficient between thecarriage 141 and its running path, that is, among the guide shaft 138,rack 139, and guide rail 140 is μ′[−]. Force F[N], which is required tocause the carriage 141 to run vertically downward at the print operationtime, is expressed by F[N]>(μ+μ′)N[N]−m[Kg]g[m/s²]. Here, g representsacceleration of gravity.

In this way, printing is performed when the carriage 141 movesvertically downward and the mass of the carriage 141 thereby acts on thevertically downward direction. For this reason, it is possible to reduceforce F that is needed to move the carriage 141. Accordingly, it ispossible to reduce a load on the motor 143 for causing the carriage 141to run, and the motor 143 can be miniaturized to make it possible toreduce the power consumption at the print operating time.

This printing apparatus is connected to the computer apparatus by acommunication cable, and performs printing to the optical disk 170 uponreception of transfer of print data such as a title and the likerelating to data, which is input, edited and recorded on the opticaldisk 170 by the computer apparatus.

In this printing apparatus, the area where printing is performed to theoptical disk 170 by one print processing is an area shown by a mark B inFIG. 18. When the carriage 141 of the printer section 135 moves alongthe running path and the terminal head 142 is driven to perform theprint operation, the rotational base 125 of the tray 121 stops.Accordingly, the optical disk 170 stands still and is held on therotational base 125.

In the case where the printing is performed to two portions on thesurface of the optical disk 170, when the first printing ends, the motor129 is driven to rotate the rotational base 125 180°. Then, after therotational base 125 stops, printing for a second portion is performed.Control of the rotation angle of the rotational base 125 is conductedbased on the detection signal from the detection switch 131.

A mark C in FIG. 18 shows the position of the area where the printingfor a second portion is performed after the printing for a first portionin the area shown by the mark B. As shown in the figure, after the firstprinting ends, the rotational base 125 is rotated 180° to perform secondprinting, thereby making it possible to provide printing to theposition, which is the opposite side of the label surface thatsandwiches the circular hole 171 of the optical disk 170.

As explained above, in the printing apparatus according to thisembodiment, there is provided the printer section 135, which performsprinting in such manner that the tray 121 is vertically placed tosupport the optical disk 170 in a vertical direction and the thermalhead 142 is vertically moved from the upper to the lower against thevertically directed tray 121. This makes it possible to contain the tray121 and the printer section 135 in the box-shaped case 101 with thesmall bottom area and the shorter side at the top, so that theinstallment area for the apparatus can be reduced.

Moreover, the printer section 135 performs printing in such a mannerthat the thermal head 142 is moved down to the optical disk 170supported on the tray 121 when the carriage 141 moves verticallydownward along the tray 121. For this reason, it is possible to reduce aload on the motor 143 for causing the carriage 141 to run by use of theweight of the carriage 141 at the print operating time. Accordingly, themotor 143 can be miniaturized to make it possible to reduce the powerconsumption.

(Fourth Embodiment)

An explanation will be given of the printing apparatus where a carriagemoving direction at the print operating time is different as comparingwith the third embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a side view showing the structure of the main parts of theprinting apparatus according to the fourth embodiment.

The configuration of this printing apparatus is the same as that of thethird embodiment except that the carriage moving direction at the printoperating time is different as mentioned above. Additionally, the samereference numerals are added to the same components as those of thethird embodiment.

The printing apparatus of the fourth embodiment also includes the case100 with the shorter side at the top. The tray 121 is vertically placedin the case 101, the optical disk 170 is supported on the rotatable base125 in the vertical direction, and the printer section 135 is providedto the tray 121.

In the printer section 135, the home position of the carriage 141 is setto the lower end portion of the printer frame 136. When the carriage 141moves vertically upward from the home position, the thermal head 142 ismoved to the print position to perform printing. On the other hand, whenthe carriage 141 moves to the upper end portion of the printer frame 136and the printing ends, the thermal head 142 is moved to the printstandby position to move the carriage 141 to the home position.

In the printing apparatus of the fourth embodiment, there is providedthe printer section 135, which performs printing in such manner that thetray 121 is vertically placed to support the optical disk 170 in avertical direction and the thermal head 142 is vertically moved from thelower to the upper against the vertically directed tray 121. Similar tothe third embodiment, since it is possible to contain the tray 121 andprinter 135 in the box-shaped case 101 with the shorter side at the top,so that the installment area for the apparatus can be reduced.

(Fifth Embodiment)

An explanation will be next given of the printing apparatus having theprinter section that moves the thermal head horizontally to performprinting.

FIG. 24 is a side view showing the structure of the main parts of theprinting apparatus according to the fifth embodiment. The printingapparatus of this embodiment includes the case 100 with the shorter sideat the top. The tray 121 is vertically placed in the case 101, anopening portion is formed on the ceiling surface of the case, and thetray 121 is movable to the outside of the apparatus through the openingportion. The printer section 135 includes the printer frame 136 placedin the case 101 horizontally, and the carriage 141 is provided to bemovable along the printer frame 136.

In the printer section 135, the home position of the carriage 141 isprovided at the right end portion of the printer frame 136 in FIG. 24,and when the carriage 141 moves t the left side, the thermal head 142 isdriven. Additionally, the same reference numerals are added to the samecomponents as those of the third and fourth embodiments.

In the printing apparatus of this embodiment, there is provided theprinter section 135, which performs printing in such manner that thetray 121 is vertically placed to support the optical disk 170 in avertical direction and the thermal head 142 is horizontally movedagainst the vertically directed tray 121. Similar to the third andfourth embodiments, since it is possible to contain the tray 121 andprinter 135 in the box-shaped case 101 with the shorter side at the top,so that the installment area for the apparatus can be reduced.

As explained above, according to the present invention, the printingobject is supported substantially vertically and printing is performedto the printing object by print means, so that the shape of theapparatus main body having the support means and print means can bereduced to one with a small installment space. Moreover, the print headis moved form the upper to the lower against the printing objectsupported substantially vertically to perform printing by thermaltransfer printing and the like. As a result, force, which is required tomove the print head, can be decreased, and power consumption at theprint operating time can be reduced.

The present invention is not limited to the aforementioned embodiments,and applications and modifications may be arbitrarily possible.

For example, the first embodiment explained the example in which therecording medium as the printing object was the optical disk. However,the recording medium as a printing object is not limited to the opticaldisk, and any recording medium may be possible. For example, it ispossible to use a magnetic disk such as a flexible disk, and the like,an optical magnetic disk such as an MO disk, and the like, and opticalrecording media such as MD, CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RAM,DVD-RW, DVD+RW, and the like in addition to CD-R shown as an example ofthe optical disk.

The aforementioned embodiments explained that the program for executingeach operation was stored in the ROM 72 of the printing apparatus. Thestorage medium of the program is not limited to this and any medium maybe possible. For example, other storage media such as an IC card, amemory card, and the like may be used. Moreover, the program is storedin a hard disk of the personal computer 68 or the storage media forexternal storage, such as a floppy disk, CD-ROM, CVD-ROM, and the like,and the printing apparatus may be controlled through the personalcomputer 68. Or, the program may be carried by a carrier wave which canbe run on a computer to supply the program to the personal computers 68and 183, so that the printing apparatus may be thereby controlled.

In the aforementioned embodiments, the plurality of convex portions 38are formed on the lower surface of the rotatable base 32 and the concaveportions 39, which correspond to the convex portions 38, are formed onthe support tray 5. However, the structure may be made the other wayaround. Namely, the plurality of concave portions may be formed on thelower surface of the rotatable base 32 and the convex portions, whichcorrespond to the concave portions, may be formed on the support tray 5.

In the aforementioned embodiments, the friction sheet 40 is adhered tothe lower surface of the rotatable base 32. However, the friction sheet40 may be adhered to the upper surface of the support tray 5.

In the aforementioned embodiments, the plurality of convex portion 38may be formed on the portion, which is the lower surface of therotatable base 32 and which is subjected to pressure by the thermal head58 as shown in FIG. 15. Moreover, a case in which the convex portions 38are formed on the upper surface of the support tray 5 may be possible.

In the aforementioned embodiments, the printer section was explained asthe thermal transfer printer. However, the type of the printer is notlimited to this. For example, this may be configured by the ink jetprinter.

The aforementioned embodiments explained the case in which a mainscanning width W of the thermal head 142 was small to the size of thelabel surface of the optical disk 170. However, this may be one thatcorresponds to the diameter size of the optical disk 170. Additionally,in this case, since the optical disk 170 is circular-shaped and theprinting is performed in this range, the driving range of the heatingelement column, which drives the optical disk 170 to the sub-scanning ofthe thermal head 142, may be controlled.

The aforementioned embodiments explained the thermal head 142 was movedto the tray 121 which was in a stationary state. However, the thermalhead fixed at a predetermined position is driven to be heated and thetray, which supports the optical disk, is moved to the thermal head, sothat printing may be performed.

Various embodiments and changes may be made thereunto without departingfrom the broad spirit and scope of the invention. The above-describedembodiments are intended to illustrate the present invention, not tolimit the scope of the present invention. The scope of the presentinvention is shown by the attached claims rather than the embodiments.Various modifications made within the meaning of an equivalent of theclaims of the invention and within the claims are to be regarded to bein the scope of the present invention.

This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-127123filed on Apr. 26, 2002 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-158983filed on May 31, 2002 and including specification, claims, drawings andsummary. The disclosure of the above Japanese Patent Applications isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possibleto provide a printing apparatus with a small installment space.

Moreover, according to the present invention, it is possible to providea printing apparatus whose consumption power at a print operating timeis small.

Still moreover, according to the present invention, it is possible toprovide a printing apparatus capable of efficiently performing printingto a plurality of portions on the surface of a printing object with asimple apparatus configuration.

1. A printing apparatus comprising: support means, comprising arotatable base, for supporting a data recordable recording mediumsubstantially vertically; rotation drive means for driving saidrotatable base to be rotated; print means for printing predetermineddata to the recording medium supported by said support means; andcontrol means for controlling said rotation drive means and said printmeans, and which selectively operates said rotation drive means and saidprint means; wherein said print means includes a print head that moveswhile pressing against the recording medium supported by said supportmeans through an ink ribbon to perform thermal transfer printing;wherein said support means is movable to a position where the recordingmedium is attached/detached to/from said rotatable base and to aposition where printing is performed by said print means to therecording medium supported by said rotatable base; and wherein saidrotatable base includes a cushion member, which abuts against therecording medium, and engaging means for engaging with the recordingmedium, on a surface where the recording medium is mounted.
 2. Theprinting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cushion member isprovided at a position on said rotatable base subjected to pressure bythe print head at a time of printing to the recording medium in a rangecorresponding to a width of the print head and a length where the printhead presses against the recording medium and moves.
 3. The printingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein a rotating direction of saidrotatable base driven to be rotated by said rotation drive means and amoving direction of the print head are opposite to each other at a printportion.
 4. The printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein saidrotation drive means includes a drive motor and a gear train having aworm gear that transmits power of the drive motor to said rotatablebase.
 5. A printing apparatus comprising: support means, comprising arotatable base, for supporting a data recordable recording mediumsubstantially vertically; rotation drive means for driving saidrotatable base to be rotated; print means for printing predetermineddata to the recording medium supported by said support means; andcontrol means for controlling said rotation drive means and said printmeans, and which selectively operates said rotation drive means and saidprint means; wherein said print means includes a print head that moveswhile pressing against the recording medium supported by said supportmeans through an ink ribbon to perform thermal transfer printing;wherein said support means includes a support base, which supports saidrotatable base to be rotatable around a rotation shaft, and urging meansfor urging said rotatable base to the support base; and wherein a firstone of opposing surfaces of the support base and said rotatable baseincludes convex portions around the rotation shaft, which project fromsaid first opposing surface and which slide in contact with a secondopposing surface opposed to said first opposing surface during rotationof said rotatable base by said rotation drive means, and the secondopposing surface includes concave portions around the rotation shaftinto which said convex portions are fit during printing by said printmeans.
 6. The printing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein at leastone of the opposing surfaces of the support base and said rotatable baseincludes a member which has a thickness smaller than a projection heightof said convex portion, and which has a cushion property and a frictionproperty.
 7. A printing apparatus comprising: support means, comprisinga rotatable base, for supporting a data recordable recording mediumsubstantially vertically; rotation drive means for driving saidrotatable base to be rotated; print means for printing predetermineddata to the recording medium supported by said support means; andcontrol means for controlling said rotation drive means and said printmeans, and which selectively operates said rotation drive means and saidprint means; wherein said print means includes a print head that moveswhile pressing against the recording medium supported by said supportmeans through an ink ribbon to perform thermal transfer printing;wherein said support means is movable to a position where the recordingmedium is attached/detached to/from said rotatable base and to aposition where printing is performed by said print means to therecording medium, supported by said rotatable base; and wherein eitherone of opposing surfaces of the support base and said rotatable baseopposing to each other includes convex portions, which project from saidone opposing surface and which abut against another opposing surfaceopposing to said one opposing surface, at a portion subjected topressure by the print head.
 8. A printing apparatus comprising: supportmeans, comprising a rotatable base, for supporting a data recordablerecording medium substantially vertically; rotation drive means fordriving said rotatable base to be rotated; print means for printingpredetermined data to the recording medium supported by said supportmeans; control means for controlling said rotation drive means and saidprint means; and detecting means for detecting a kind of a print objectsupported by the support means, from among a plurality of kinds ofpredetermined print objects; wherein said support means supports a firstprint object and a second print object selectively; and wherein saidcontrol means selectively operates said rotation drive means and saidprint means when said detecting means detects the first print object,and does not operate said rotation drive means and operates only saidprint means when said detecting means detects the second print object.9. The printing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the first printobject is a disk-like data-recordable recording medium having apredetermined diameter, and the second print object is a rectangularpaper material having a side that has substantially a same length as thepredetermined diameter.